Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez unifies WBC, WBO and WBA super flyweight world titles with spectacular knockout of Fernando Martinez.
Jesse “Bam” Rodriguez continued his impressive form by stopping Fernando Martinez in the second round last night at the ANB Arena in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Rodriguez (23-0, 16 knockouts) defended his WBC and WBO super flyweight titles while unifying them with the WBA belt previously held by Martinez (18-1, 9 knockouts).
“I missed the birth of my son,” Rodriguez explained in the DAZN interview after the fight. “It was a sacrifice I had to make for this fight. Years later, hopefully he’ll understand why.”
In the tenth round, Rodriguez landed a perfectly timed left hook that hit Martinez right on the jawline. Martinez staggered back, his legs wobbling. Rodriguez sensed the end was near and followed up with a lightning-fast combination, with a precise right cross sending Martinez to the floor. The referee stopped the fight immediately as Martinez was unable to reach the ten-second limit. Rodriguez raised his fists in triumph – a knockout that proved both his punching power and precision and finally established his dominance in the ring.
With this win, Rodriguez is now just one title short of becoming the undisputed Super Flyweight World Champion. Current IBF champion Willibaldo Garcia (23-6-2, 12 knockouts) will face Kenshiro Teraji next month.